Killer of student Karen Buckley to appeal his 23 year prison sentence

Killer: Alexander Pacteau was jailed for a minimum of 23 years Crown Office/PA Wire

The killer of Irish student Karen Buckley is to appeal against his sentence.

Alexander Pacteau, 21, was jailed for a minimum of 23 years after admitting bludgeoning Miss Buckley to death with a spanner in April, just hours after meeting her.

The former public schoolboy then attempted to dispose of the 24-year-old's body in a vat of chemicals

Judge Lady Rae said he had carried out a "brutal, senseless and motiveless attack on a defenceless young woman" as she sentenced him for murder at the High Court in Glasgow earlier this month.

Pacteau has now lodged papers at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh in a bid to reduce his sentence.

A court spokesman said: "He lodged a notice of intention to appeal against sentence on 16 September."

Killed: Karen Buckley Crown Office / PA Wire/Press Association Images

The 21-year-old originally faced a second charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by misleading police and trying to conceal Miss Buckley's body.

The Crown withdrew the charge before his plea and his solicitor John Scullion QC suggested his actions after the killing should not therefore be regarded when considering sentence.

But Lady Rae said she could not ignore Pacteau's conduct following Miss Buckley's death.

The judge told him: "I regret that the Crown, in withdrawing charge two, has to some extent tied my hands in relation to this sentence.

"After reflecting on submissions, I have come to the view that I cannot ignore your conduct after the killing."

Miss Buckley, who was studying for a masters degree in occupational health therapy at Glasgow Caledonian University, was on a night out to the Sanctuary nightclub in the city when she was preyed on by Pacteau.

Karen Buckley was enjoying a night out with friends when she was preyed on by Pacteau Police Scotland / PA Wire/Press Association Images

In the early hours of April 12, he was captured on CCTV talking to her outside the nightclub.

He then drove her to nearby Kelvin Way, where he grabbed her neck and delivered about a dozen blows with a spanner.

He took her body to his flat where he stored it in the bath and in the days that followed made trips to High Craigton Farm on the outskirts of Glasgow where he burned a mattress and clothes.

Pacteau purchased caustic soda and a barrel and placed Miss Buckley's body inside before leaving it in a locked storage unit he rented.

He initially claimed to detectives, who identified him from CCTV footage, that they had consensual sex at his flat and she had fallen and injured herself on the bed frame before leaving.

Miss Buckley's parents John and Marian Buckley have said they hope the "truly evil coward" is never released from jail.